467 



L4 D2 

-"vi COLD FACTS 



The Pen of Col. Lee 

Writes the Indictment 
Against the 

S^^ord of General Lee 



"The Pen Mightier 
than the S\^ord' 



ADDRESS 

Delivered by 

Jasper T. Darling 
At Freeport, Illinois. May 30, 1910 



First Edition, Fifty Thousand Copies 



b^ 



I^L^ 



L^33^ 



Copyrighted 

BY 

Jasper T. Darling 
1910 



©CIA2G7018 




Jasper T. Darling, Late Private Co. G. 61st Mass. Vol. Infantry. 
Past Commander Columbia Post No. 706, Dept. of Illinois, Grand Army of the Republic 

OFFICIAL PROGRAM 
At G. a. R. Encampment, hei.d at Frkeport, Ii.l., May 23, 24, 25, 1910 

FIRST DAY— MONDAY, MAY Z", 
Band Concert Court House Square 2:30"to 4 P. M. 

CAMP FIRES 
8 P. M. at Grand Opera House, First Presbyterian Church and First M. E. Church 

OPERA HOUSE 

Music Henney B n 1 

Address of Welcome— Mayor W. T. Rawleigh. 

Response by Dept. Commander Gen. Phillip C. Hayes, 

Music Temple Quartette, High School Glee Club 



Ex-Gov. Samuel R. Van Sant 

Commander-in-Chief 
Joseph Rosenbaum, 

Past Dept. Commander 
Jasper T. Darling, 

Past Commander Columbia Post 
Charles A. Partridge, 

Ass't. Adj. General 

Mrs. Lula Carlin, 

Dept. Pres. Daugthers of Veterans 



SPEAKERS 

Mrs. Harriet Hudson, 

Dept. Pres. Ladies G. A. R. 
Mrs. Ida E. Palmer, 

Dept. Pres. W. R. C. 
Hon. Geo. W. Pollitt, 

Commander-in-Chief, S. V. 



Mrs. Jessie M. Hale, 

Div. Pres. S. V. Aux. 



To My Sister Department Presidents and To All Members of 
Our Order. • 

GREETING : 

Realizing with grave apprehension, that the spirit of exaggerated 
Commercialism is slowly and surely smothering, and putting to sleep, the 
"spirit of true Patriotism in our National life, and that, while Patriotism so 
slumbers, grave dangers are arising to assail the very foundation rock upon 
which our government was builded, and now stands. Therefore we believe 
that renewed efforts should be made in teaching true and exalted Patriotism 
throughout the Nation, and that a calm and unimpassioned study of the 
great historic truths should be reinaugurated — such as may aid in a better 
understanding of the past and thereby the better safeguarding the future 
of this benign Republic. 

With these convictons beeore us, the Woman's Relief Corps 
OF THE Department of Illinois, acting through its President, 

NOW ENTERS THIS FIELD OF MUCH NEEDED ACTIVITY, with the hope that 
other Departments will engage in and pursue a like Patriotic work. 

Inspired by these sentiments, it is our pleasure to present for liberal 
distribution, this booklet, containing the address of Jasper T. Darling, 
(Patriotic Instructor of Columbia Post, Grand Army of the Republic) to 
each Department President, remembering that we are organized "To 
MAINTAIN TRUE ALLEGIANCE TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; TO 
INCULCATE LESSONS OF PATRIOTISM AND LOVE OF COUNTRY AMONG OUR 
CHILDREN AND IN THE COMMUNITIES IN WHICH WE LIVE.' 

Sincerely yours in F. C. and L., 

Anna Patterson, 
Department President of Illinois. 

Mattoon, III., June 10, 1910. 



d 



Commander-in-Chief, Department Commander, Comrades 
OF Illinois, Ladies of the Orders, and Friends : 

"With firmness for the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive 
on to finish the work we are in." 

These words of Abraham I^incoln, whose brain was the Tem- 
ple, and whose heart was the home of human liberty, inspire my 
soul as I speak to you tonight. 

Within these precincts, where now stands this beautiful city, 
more than half a century ago Abraham Lincoln spoke. 

He was in the midst of a pilgrimage journeying from city to 
city throughout this great commonwealth, uttering words that 
touched and thrilled the anxious hearts of his countrymen. 

He looked toward the clouds ; he knew the fury of the gath- 
ering storm. 

Fate had decreed that this man of humble birth was to become 
the monarch of the forum, that the wisdom of his brain was to 
mould the way to a higher civilization, and that the genius of 
his soul was to radiate a new and brighter light for the uplifting 
of mankind. 

He was called to lead the Nation. 

The clouds grew dark, the storms broke, and the compact of 
armies shook the earth. 

Rebellion said, this Republic must die. 

But, above the roar of conflict, above the crash of contending 
arms, louder and yet louder, from the hilltops, the valleys, the 
mountains and the plains, there rolled and poured that mighty 
anthem, still heard by some of us away in the distance, as mem- 
ory wafts the sound : — 

" We are coming, we are coming, our Union to restore ; 
We are coming. Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more." 

The Nation lived, but not until convictions had been sealed, 
and courage consecrated, in poured-out blood. 

The Temple of Liberty was saved, but it must be remembered 
that it will stand only as long as the pillars, supporting it, stand. 

Its pillars are Patriotism. 

When Patriotism crumbles the Temple will perish and fade 
away from the eyes of man. 

There is a persistent effort in some portions of this Republic 
to assail the central pillar, even though the Temple, itself, must 
go down. 

The flag, which was furled at Appomattox, is floating again. 

The sword, which was sheathed on that historic da}^ has been 
drawn from its scabbard and, with the uniform which bore it, 
now becomes a spectral figure in the Capitol of our Nation. 



And so the Vanquished of Appomattox are cartooned in vic- 
tory, while Patriotism stands by with scorn. 

This determination to vindicate the sword of Treason has be- 
come the all-absorbing ambition of the South. 

The most magnanimous L,eader that ever dictated terms to a 
conquered foe, said to General Lee : 

"Your officers will retain their side arms, and your men will keep their 
horses, for they will need them in their Spring plowing." 

The parole, which L,ee and his officers signed, said that their 
swords should remain only as a memorial of a cause which then 
went down in everlasting defeat. 

But now, after the lapse of almost half a century, Virginia has 
drawn it from its scabbard, placed it in the hand of L,ee, and 
proclaimed him ' ' The Iron Duke ' ' under the dome of the Cap- 
itol itself. 

Is that picture overdrawn ? 

Is that statement not true ? 

Allow me to quote a few words from two letters which I have 
received from gentlemen who claim to be cultured Virginians — 
letters which happen to be addressed to myself. 

The first one, written in Zimpan, Hidalgo, Mexico, reads as 
follows : — 

' ' Dear Sir : The attached statement, made by you, and published in this 
city, is before me. 

" The immortal General Lee needs no defense. 

" However, for your information, I assert, in all that makes the true man, 
he towers above any thing [mind you, he says ' any thing '] born north of 
Mason and Dixon's line, past or present, as Mount Washington towers above 
a mole hill." 

From another letter, written at Lynchburg, Virginia, I quote : 

' ' Dear Sir : I have read your protest against the acceptance of the Lee 
statue in the Hall of Fame. 

"I. too, am opposed to this distinguished Virginian being placed there, 
but my reasons are different from yours. 

" With the exception of a few others, and those mostly from Southern 
States, the company there is hardly suited to the class represented by Robert 
E. Lee ; in other words, your collection of rather mediocre Northerners is 
distinctly outclassed." 

And these are the sentiments generally accepted, and boldly 
proclaimed, by the great masses of the South today. 

Now, my friends and comrades, if you desire to learn how 
such opinions can be honestly entertained, as these opinions 
doubtless are, do as I have done; secure and read Southern text 
books. Southern histories — books and histories that cultivate 
young minds to hate the very name of Abraham Lincoln, to 
loathe everything that contributed to slavery's overthrow and 
Southern defeat. 



The authors of those books are enemies to all mankind, and 
more especially are they enemies to the Southern conscience and 
the Southern mind. 

Read those books, if you will, and you will inquire, even as I 
have inquired, what evil genius is this that would thus poison 
child-hearts and cultivate sectional contempt, which can end only 
in discord, if not the fomenter of war itself. 

What accursed pen would invoke another issue? 

For more than forty years the soldiers of the sixties have 
reached out their hands to their former foe; they have hailed 
them as brothers; they have respected them as citizens in every 
section of the land. 

Gen. John B. Gordon, upon the occasion of his last visit to 
Chicago a short time previous to his lamented death, so attested 
in strong and eloquent terms. 

Northern valor has ever extended the olive branch. 

And what does the South now give in return? 

The military figure of him who scourged this land beneath the 
withering breath of relentless war — him who would have left this 
Republic — the land of his father — a shapeless mass of wreck and 
rubbish. 

The wounds were almost healed, but now behold the change! 

The dove of peace, so long reposing on a reunited Nation's 
brow, has taken flight, and the raven perches in her stead. 

They invoke the words of Grant — " lyET us have Peace " — 
while they persist in doing that which engenders discord and 
destroys peace. 

In placing the statue of L,ee upon that pedestal Virginia has 
violated the faith. 

She has intensified that violation by placing the sword of 
Treason in his hand. 

She has insulted the civilizations of the twentieth century by 
clothing that statue in a uniform which means nothing in that 
assemblage except a challenge against the teachings of true 
Patriotism in this Republic, and in every other land where law 
is respected and obeyed. 

What part did Virginia take in the dedication of that Hall to 
the purposes of Fame? Neither did she, nor did any other com- 
monwealth, then in Rebellion against Government, take part. 
It was dedicated by an act of Congress when the guns of Rebel- 
lion were roaring their defiance against the foundation rock of 
human liberty. 

What would have been incorporated into that law had there 
been the remotest thought or suspicion that Lee's statue would 
ever find an entrance there? 



Every intelligent American knows that a provision would have 
been made whereby the statue of a traitor could never corrupt 
the sacredness of that sanctuary. 

So long as Treason is considered a crime against constitutional 
latv, the statue of Robert E. Lee can have no abiding place in that 
Pantheon dedicated to the heroes of the Revolution and to those 
whose achievements have contributed to the upbuilding of this 
Republic; and the man of reason, zvho ivould approve it, is, uncon- 
sciously perhaps, bict surely, condoning the spirit of secession, a7id 
coqueting with Treason itself. 

Mr. lyincoln said: ''''All we ask of the South is that they come 
home and behave themselves .^ ' 

As the last echoes of battle were dying away amid the Virginia 
hills that good man fell— the last and saddest offering at the open 
grave where on bended knees a million mothers had wept and 
prayed — where sorrow had cried aloud even as did Rachel of 
old, " Hozcj long, O Lord, hoiv longf^ 

But out of the storm there came the calm of returning peace; 
and then the heart of conciliation said, come thou, O South ! 
and share these glories with us. 

By what manner of reasoning can it be claimed that Treason's 
image was then in contemplation? 

I repeat: Virginia has violated the faith; and not only that, 
but she has violated the spirit and the intent of the law itself. 

We are commanded to heed these words: ''''The letter of the 
law killeth, but the spirit viaketh alive.''' 

How long would Congress tolerate a statue of Arnold in that 
Hall? Not a single day; and yet far better Benedict Arnold than 
Robert E. Lee. 

What reason, or apology, does Virginia offer for this deed? 
I will tell you: She says (and the whole South applauds) that 
L,ee was sincere, that his conscience was pure, when he turned 
away from the Stars and Stripes. 

Now let us see. Let us consult the record. 

It is an old record, buried deep among old archives, and held 
/ from the eyes of the world for six and thirty years, but finally 
^.^ublished by Henry Alexander White— a Southern historian. 

It is a letter from Col. Lee, who was then stationed at San 
Antonio, Texas, addressed to his son, Custis Lee, at Arlington, 
Virginia, and dated Jan. 23, 1861. 

So far as I am aware it has never been referred to by Northern 
speakers or writers ; while only such brief portions of it have 
been quoted, and, in some instances distorted, by Southern 
speakers, as best serve to explain away the acts of the author, 
when he repudiated his allegiance to his country and her flag. 

6 



It is now my privilege to present the following, more complete 
and comprehensive quotation from the letter as published : 

" I liave just conchided the reading of Everett's Life of Washington 
—enjoyed it very much. 

And then, as if awakening from a trouhled dream, he exclaimed: 
' How his spirit would be grieved could he see the wreck of his mighty 
labors.' 

I will not, however, permit myself to believe, until all the ground for 
hope is gone, that the fruit of his noble deeds will be destroyed, and 
that his precious and virtuous example will so soon be forgotten by 
his countrymen. 

As far as I can judge from the papers we are between a state of an- 
arcliy and civil war 

May God avert both these evils from us! 

The franu rs of our constitution never would have exhausted so much 
labor, wisdom and forbearance in its formation, and surrounded it 
with so many guards and securities, if it was intended to be broken by 
any member of the Confederacy at will. 

It is intended for a perpetual Union, so expressed in the preamble, 
and for the e>tablishment of a (TJovernmeut, not a compact, which can 
be dissolved only by revolution, or the consent of all the people in con- 
vention assembled. 

It is idle to talk of secession ; anarchy would otherwise have been 
established, and not a government by Washington, Hamilton, Jeiferson, 
and all the other patriots of the Revolution." 

These words and others of lesser import were written and 
signed by Robert E. Lee. 

Webster's reply to Hayne has ever been regarded as the tri- 
umphant voice of the constitution. 

lyce's letter endorsed its every word, and he sealed his endorse- 
ment with his conscience and his name. 

His analysis of the constitution was an unqualified rebuke 
against the gospel of nullification as preached by John C. 
Calhoun. 

Remember these — the words of Col. Lee — ''perpetual Union,''^ 
a Government, not a compact^' — idle to talk of secession^ ^ — 
''anarchy would otherwise have been established ^ 

The words of that message and his subsequent acts cannot be 
reconciled. 

If his conscience dictated that letter, then what accursed influ- 
ence caused him to embrace anarchy just ninety days later? — 
anarchy as he himself had pictured it. 

Let us now inquire: Would a father mislead his son ? Would 
he deceive his own flesh and blood ? 

He told his son that he prayed to God to avert the evil of an- 
archy and civil war. 7 



Then why did he repudiate his prayer to God and lead the 
hosts of anarchy into civil war ? 

Why did he resolve that the sword, and not the convention, 
was the best instrument with which to dissolve the Union ? 

Why did he decide to lead his native State into rebellion and 
then struggle to wreck the labors of Washington, instead of fol- 
lowing '' his preciotis and virhioits examplef 

That message told the truth, as his conscience knew the truth. 

// zvas the pen of Col. Lee writing the indictment against the 
sword of Gen. Lee—'' Thk pen mightier than the sword." 

It is nine and forty years since Lee unfolded the convictions of 
his heart to his son. Has the South ever attempted to repudiate 
that letter ? No! but they have confirmed it by quoting all ex- 
cept its vital parts — its fatal admissions. 

It now behooves the South to acknowledge the cold, unyield- 
ing truth that Col. Lee' s conscience was not clear — that his motives 
zvere not pure — that his deeds were not exalted w\\e.n. he denied his 
prayer to God and then tore asunder the Stars and Stripes. 

That message will endure as long as the memory of of I^ee en- 
dures as proof of his subsequent perfidy. 

It was the voice of his conscience calling upon God to spare 
the Crucifixion, and then, drawing his sword, he became the 
leader of the Crucifixion in all the horrors of civil war. 

In Gen. Gordon's book he expresses regret that Gen. L,ee 
failed to write his own story of the struggle. 

Just as they were approaching the McLean house at Appomat- 
tox Lee exclaimed to Gordon, '' I wish I had fallen in battle be- 
fore this day.'^ 

Is it a wonder that Lee failed to write a history of the war ? 
No. He could not write. He could look only downward into 
the maelstrom where he had led his people. 

He could see only into the vortex of reeking Hell, where the 
best blood of the South had been swallowed up — where men had 
been swept down, like drift-wood, into the depths of the abyss 
below. 

Had he spoken, it would have been the wail of a crushed con- 
science, the moan of a broken heart. 

Just three months after writing that letter Colonel Lee stood 
in the presence of Scott in Washington. 

The aged General had summoned him. 

History records this interview : 

Gen. Scott said : Col. Lee, do yo7i propose to resign, or remain 
in the Union f The Colonel failed to reply. 

The hero of Chapultepec then came directly to the point and 
and said : ' ' I szippose yon will go with the rest. If you propose 

8 



to resign it is proper that yon should do so at once. Yonr present 
attitude is an equivocal o)ie.'' 

Col. Lee then answered in these words : 

"The property belonging to my children — all Ihey possess— lies in Vir- 
ginia. They will be ruined if they do not go with their State. I cannot 
raise my hands against my children." 

And so property loomed above Patriotism in the eyes of Lee on 
that day. 

And the South flies into a rage because we have likened him 
unto Benedict Arnold. 

Before considering these strange acts of this strange man, let 
us follow him for a few moments. 

From the presence of Gen. Scott he passed into the olhce of 
Gen. Shiras, where Adjt. Gen. Lorenzo Thomas was sitting. 

Addressing the latter, Lee said : 
I am told that you said I zvas a Traitor.''' 

Whereupon, Gen. Thomas arose, looked Lee squarely in the 
eyes and replied: ' I have said so, do you wish to know on what 
authority. ' ' 

Well, on the authority of Ge?i. Scott.'" 

Col. Lee then said, '' there must be some mistake,''' turned on 
his heel and left for Arlington. 

And there was a mistake — a mistake irreparable— a mistake 
that cost a million graves, and crucified a nation in the anguish 
of indescribable woe. 

Both Lincoln and Scott had urged upon Col. Lee the com- 
mission of Commander-in-Chief of the Union armies; they had 
relied upon his honor; but his honor went into bankruptcy on 
that day. 

History says, " Col. Lee, unth a respectful bozv, zvithdrew from 
Gen. Scott." 

From that moment he became the Benedict Arnold of 

HIS DAY and generation, AND NO TONGUE, OR PEN, HOWEVER 
VEHEMENT, CAN TRUTHFULLY DENY. 

Arnold attempted to sell West Point for British gold. 

West Point became the Alma Mater of Lee. 

He laid the foundation of all his military power within those 
classic walls. The government paid the cost. 

Graduating, he held up his hand and took upon himself this 
obligation: 

"I hereby solemnly swear that I will draw my sword only to main- 
tain the integrity of this Republic, and that, so far as lays within my 
power, I will preserve, protect and defend the (government and the 
constitution of tlie United States against all enemies and oppressors, 
whatsoever, domestic as well as foreig-n.'' 

And he had studied the constitution. He understood article 
three, section three— its definition of what constitutes "Treason." 



Five times he had been promoted. 

Five times he had held up his hand and repeated that oath. 

That obligation should have held him by bonds so heroic, by 
ties so patriotic, by principles so lofty and sublime, that no 
tempter, for a moment, could have stood before him. 

The greatest teacher that the world has ever know was taken 
up unto a high mountain, where, hearing the words of the 
tempter, he exclaimed: '' Get thee behind me, Satan." - 

Lee had reached the mountain top, and, from that command- 
ing height, he deliberately adjusted to his bow the Parthian 
arrow and hurled it with a Traitor's hand toward the heart of 
the Nation , and then he hurried away to complete the wreck of 
this Republic which the wisdom of Washington and the Patriots 
of the Revolution had so faithfully designed. 

But let us inquire: Was there not an ulterior influence which 
caused this contradictory man to become a Traitor on that day? 

Perfidious England had whispered through the lips of Jeffer- 
son Davis into the ears of Col. Lee. 

This great and growing power of the Western World must be 
crushed and cut in twain. 

Lee's sword was selected to strike the blow. 

British gold had bought Arnold. 

British gold was waiting, and eager, to finance a slave Con- 
federacy. 

Bunker Hill and Yorktown must be avenged. 

To be sure battle-smoke would shut out Fame's sunlight from 
Mount Vernon; but what cared Davis for the sepulchre of 
Washington if he could but rule over a Slave-Empire. 

Would he not then be even greater than ' ' The Father of His 
Country'' ' ? 

Sordid ambition listening to English perfidy ! 

Judas Iscariot covenanting his Nation awaj- ? 

In the midst of his joy Davis boasted. 

He then led Lee up unto the Mountain top ; he whispered 
England's message in his ears. 

His victim wavered ; he lacked the necessary moral courage to 
say-, No! '''' Get the behind me, Satan' \' 

If Robert E. Lee did not become a traitor on that day, then 
the West Point oath is a travesty, and article three, section 
three, of the Constitution, is a lie. 

Arnold went over to the enemy. 

Lee became the enemy. 

Which was the guiltier of the two ? 

The legac}^ of Arlington to his children was greater before his 
eyes on that day than all the legacies which would have been 
his to bequeath had he remained faithful to the Government he 
was sworn to defend. 10 



Arnold was promised one hundred and fifty thousand dollars 
in British gold. 

By the rules of war Lee's estate was confiscated. 

I,ater on a magnanimous Government re-imbursed the heirs of 
Mrs. Lee by paying the Arnold price. 

And did that price, exorbitant as it was, carry with it the bonus 
of a pedestal ? 

And why so remarkable a value upon that estate ? 

Simply because it had become the burial place of thousands 
whom Lee's sword had cut down. 

The soil of Arlington had drawn into its hospitable embrace 
generous libations of human blood. 

Arlington, our Nation' s Gethseniane/ 

And it'hy Lee's statiief 

Why his uniform ? 
- Why /lis sword ? 

Why the Capitol of the Nation, and not the Capitol of the 
Commonwealth in whose defense, only, did he say he would 
draw his sword ? 

The reason is very plain : when accepted by Congress, the 
distinguishing line between Patriotism and Treason will have 
been struck down : Patriotism will then have received its dead- 
liest blow. 

Beware of the voice insisting ! it is the note of the siren, and 
not a lullaby of Southern love. 

Picket is charging again at Gettysburg ! 

The battlements of Patriotism must be protected or Treason 
" will mount the parapets and sweep the field ! 

Shall that accursed day ever come ? 
. The statue of Lee is the entering wedge. 

<The United Daughters of the Confederacy are the power. 
They are striking sledge-hammer blows. 
And what influence is behind all this nefarious work ? 

English bondholders. They financed a Government that went 
into bankruptcy. 
' They want their gold. 

A rich Republic can pay when a friendly Congress may so 
decree. 

' ' A SOLID South ' ' and English bandholders are marching 
hand in hand. They are stepping to the strains of Dixie.. 

A bill is now before Congress calling for an appropriation of 
$150,000.00 for an equestrian statue of Gen. Lee in Washington; 
while Mississippi demands a pedestal for Jeff Davis. 

Let us now seriously inquire what all this means ? 

It means that a solid South, the daugters and sons, pro- 
pose to make Washington a Westminster Abbey for the Rebel 
Uniform ; and so not only vindicate, but glorify, the Rebel 
sword. 11 



Then what ? 

Simply another bill pensioning all Confederate soldiers. 

O, glorious day ! Erase the word treason from the charge, 
write ' ' war between the States, " or " the late unpleasantness ' ' in 
its stead, and then the marriage bells will ring, and a mongrel 
Patriotism will possess our land — a Patriotism with a pestilential 
taint of Treason coursing its veins. 

Should that day ever come the holders of Confederate bonds 
will say, even as Gladstone said, " only a family quarrel,'' so let 
the family pay us now our principal with interest ; and a Solid 
South will say amen! 

In Seventy-Five British bayonets and Bunker Hill ! 

In Sixty-One British Gold and Richmond ! 

And long before this Century reaches its meridian, British 
bondholders will knock at Libert}^ 's treasury door and say 
REDEEM. 

If they succeed, if they gain the heights, if they break the 
lines, Britain will smile again ; and Treason will laugh Patriot- 
ism to scorn. 

You ask whether they can conscientiously do this ? 

The answer may be found in the records telling of English 
■ privateers scourging the seas under the rebel flag, robbing the 
merchantmen flying the Stars and Stripes - the flag of a friendly 
power. The penalty was '''the Geneva Award.'" England paid 
the bill, but she has neither forgiven nor forgotten what she 
termed the audacity of the demand. 

A short time ago The Daughters dedicated a monument 
glorifying the fiend of Andersohville. 

On its westerly side, chiseled deep, are the words of a letter 
written by Gen. Grant to the Secretary of War — a letter so 
viciously construed as to accuse him of the slaughter in that 
Prison-Hell. 

And there it stands to-day charging him ; because he refused 
to deliver over to the South three hundred thousand well fed 
and well clothed men who would have sprung at Sherman's 
throat, defeated his march to the sea, and indefinitely prolonged 
the war. 

By that insane and fool-hardy act, The Daughters seem to 
think that the gore-stained hands of Wirz are washed, and that 
Grant's are covered with guilty blood. 

There is no Nation on earth, other than this, that would al- 
low that statue to stand for a single day; and some people, even 
now, are led to inquire whether it is generous forbearance, or a 
moral paralysis, that causes our Nation to submit to such an 
insult against the integrity and humanity of him who dethroned 
Treason at Appomattox. 

And what of the L,ee statue ? 



I will repeat one paragraph from my Chicago address — 
" Purify Lee in the Hall of Fame, and they will put blood on the 
hands of Abraham Lincoln. " 

And this is but the part of a great plan which, for forty years, 
a Solid South has been projecting. 

Comrades, with our ranks growing thin, what can we do? 
Ere the last of us go hence, let us swing back the door of se- 
clusion, take our sons bythe hand and, around the altar where 
lies the sword, the Bible and the Flag, teach them the lessons of 
"eternal vigilance." 

But what will our Representatives in Congress do when called 
upon to accept, or reject, that statue? 

Hope has ever looked toward Washington. 

Loyal hearts and faithful bayonets protected that city, and 
preserved it as the Rock of Liberty for the children of the 
Western World. 

Some insist that Politics will barter Patriotism away. 

I don't believe it. My faith is strong that, when the great 
hour comes, brave men will rise up and say, I refuse to rebuke 
the bayonets of Ulysses S. Grant ; I refuse to give my vote 
which would join, in bonds of wedlock, Patriotism and Treason; 
I refuse to repudiate the verdict which heroic manhood pur- 
chased with precious and priceless blood ; I will not, by my vote, 
blight the homage which is due only to the defenders of this Re- 
public. 

• Some point to Joe Wheeler and say, why him? The spirit of 
'Abraham Lincoln touched his soul and filled his heart with re- 
pentence. 

He said to McKinley, ''Give me back my faded blue and the 
Heaven-blest Stars and Stripes.'^ 

He grasped the flag; he led the hosts of Liberty ; he planted 
the emblem of everlasting hope on the heights of San Juan Hill; 
he earned a shaft in Arlington. 

Joe Wheeler redeemed . 

Some point to the statue of Calhoun and say, why such Na- 
tional honor to him? God closed his eyes while yet the Empress 
of Peace was reposing over the land. 

He never took the West Point oath. His arena was politics. 
He never drew sword to maim or kill. He threatened Treason, but 
the hangman's noose in Jackson's hand cured the malady in him. 

And what of Lee? Not from that great hour, when Ujdsses 
S. Grant gave life and liberty and hope to him, did he ever in- 
scribe on History's page a single word or sentence from which 
his deluded countrymen might kindle torches of true Patriotism 
to guide their footsteps along the pathway of human progress, 
and for the uplifting of mankind. 

13 



/ 



J 



The South seems to rebuke whomsoever may use the word 

Treason." John C. Breckenridge, as he was being expelled 
from the United States Senate in 1861, exclaimed : 

When Traitors become mimero2is enough, Treason becomes re- 
spectable, and to become a Traitor is to constitute a portion of the 
aristocracy of the land. ' ' 

And Breckenridge was the Southern nominee for President 
against Mr. lyincoln. The words of so distinguished an authority 
should not invite rebuke, especially in his own land and among 
his own people. 

Another distinguished Kentuckian visited Chicago a few years 
ago. He spoke before one of the leading clubs of the city, dur- 
ing which address he said: — 

But you left in the Cotistitution that fatal double constrtiction to 
whichy along with slavery, we oived all otir troubles; and there it is 
to-day; so that, if I want to take Kentucky and go 02it of the Union 
there is no statute to hinder me ; and though you may make it tin- 
comfortable for me, you cannot hang me for treasofi.'^ 

What a commentary on the constitution ! 

What a commentary on the West Point oath which hundreds 
of the best young men of the South are taking when swords are 
put into their hands— men who must be relied upon as Patriots, 
or fail as Traitors, even as did Lee, should the death-clouds 
loom again. 

Were these words of Watterson intended as a cloaked threat, 
or a cudgel, warning " hands off" whenever they might see fit 
to trundle Treason's most excellent image into our Nation's Hall 
of Fame ? 

Did that message of Abraham lyincoln — " With malice toward 
;zc«(?" — nullify article three, section three, of the constitution? 

Did the magnanimity of Grant at Appomattox nullify that 
clause, or pledge a pedestal for Treason ? 

The words of Grant, uttered at Mount McGregor — ''Let us 
have Peace'' — must not be regarded as a license to glorify those 
who struggled to overthrow this Republic and thus destroy the 
equilibrium of the Western World. 

A single Emma Goldman plunges our Nation into a panic of 
fear when she steps before the footlights ; but the red flag of 
anarchistic hate pales into insignificance when compared to the 
deadly influence and the blightening curse of the " Southern 
Cross'' — the emblem caressed in a million homes — the emblem 
first to meet child-eyes— the first to win Southern applause — 
the emblem which is sovereign in a million hearts; while up- 
turned eyes plead and voices pray for its redemption. 

It is said that every public meeting in Athens was opened with 
a curse upon any one who failed to speak what he really believed 
to be the truth. 1^ 



/ have never defiled my conscience from fear or favor to my 
superiors'' ' was a part of the oath every Egyptiaji soul was supposed 
to utter in the Judgmeyii — Hall of Osiris before admission to 
Heaven . " 

Thank God 1 The Grand Army of the Republic is to-day 
showing- a spirit as sincere and fearless. 

I would not utter a word to promote discord ; but every word 
I do utter is intended to avert future discord. 

This rallying again of the Grand Army in the cause of National 
honor, and the Stars and Stripes, is heroic and sublime. 

It is like a 7ioble and puissant Nation arousing herself, like 
a strong man, from sleep, and shaking her invi?ici6le locks.'" 

" But yesterday we saw her reposing peaceful and motionless ; 
biit, at the call of Patriotism, she ruffles, as it were, her swelling 
plianage, collects her scattered elements of strength, and awakens 
her dormant thunders. ' ' 

The Grand Army of the Republic is a power which no man 
dares deny. Its influence wall live as long as the spirit of 
Iviberty inspires the human breast. 

It asks no tribute, but it demands justice. 

It demands that false teachings be denied a place in this Ark 
of God's Covenant, which was saved by the sword of His will. 

It demands that no statue be allowed in the Hall of Fame which 
will become the evangel of discord and the fomenter of sec- 
tional hate. 

The Grand Army of the Republic now calls upon the Southern 
graduates of West Point — the blood relatives of Robert E. Lee — 
to prove their sincerity to their oath by asking Virginia to take 
that statue home where it belongs. 

The Stars and Stripes wave on, though adverse winds assail. 

From ocean to ocean, throughout this great Temple of human 
triumphs, Patriotic hearts beat in rythmic cadence as in days 
gone by. 

Anxious eyes scan the field, and to that Thermopylae, where 
Senators assemble, and where, wdth Congressmen, they decree — 
toward that tribunal, with faith abiding, Patriotism extends its 
steady gaze. 

And, if there will be one in all that vast array, who would re- 
buke the verdict of Appomattox — who would memorialize, in 
marble or bronze, a destroyer, even as he would a builder, of 
this Republic — who would teach succeeding generations that 
equal honors are due to the Traitor as to the Patriot — if there be 
one, I say, who would break down and destroy the distinguish- 
ing line between exalted Patriotism and malignant Treason, then 
to that one Liberty cries aloud, even as did the Prophets of old 
to Apostate Israel : 

" Look Unto the Rock Whence Ye Are Hewn! " 

15 



Comrades, as the father calls upon his son when the burden 
of his toil bears heavily, so let us call upon those who will 
hearken unto our appeal and heed our supplication : — 

Arise, O Sons! nor sword, nor strife, 
Shall e'er again this Nation's life, 

On blood-rer" fields assail ; " 
As loy^l hearts and patriot hands 
Uphold the emblem of our lands, 

Since truth and right prevail. 

From cleansing fires, from conflicts brave; 
Our banner triumphed o'er the grave ; 

And now in glory bright, 
To thee we give with all its hope, 
Forged from the mighty battle stroke. 

Proud emblem of the right. 

Nor flag, nor sword, nor somber gray, 
Should e'er again, in bold array. 

Rise up to dim the blue ; 
Yet, in the waning of our years, 
'Mid all our hopes and all our fears, 

To you ! we look to you. 

Ere long we'll hear that signal-call. 
Which tells of triumph, one and all, 
Then stand thy sentries, brave and strong, 
On ramparts, where thy sires did build. 
Where Freedom found her living shield, 
Where blood atoned " eternal wrong." 



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Mrs. Frank L. Hubbard 

Department Patriotic Instructor W. R. C. 
No. 2219 West Polk Street, Chicago, 111. 



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